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Talk:Economy-planks-GOP2008
The 2008 Platform Committee received public input through a website. Ultimately more than 13,000 comments were received and considered. The following is a sampling of those comments: Dick Patten Wmd6wpTaGRM Dick Pattn says kill the death tax. There should be no taxation without respiration. Michael Steele C_P1r2rfLFM Michael Steele wants to promote the small business sector. (Anonymous) k6_GAHvNyow Unions and Card check is a concern. David Adams aOomt1KelAA David Adams of Kentucky, wants the Fair tax. Text comments (Matthew - Bakersfield, CA) The greatest President in modern times, has only been out of office for 20 years and yet the lessons that he taught us seem to have been completely forgotten. You do not stimulate an economy by redistributing income, and calling it economic stimulus! You stimulate the economy by getting the government out of the way of private enterprise. Cut taxes! Disposable income will increase and feed the starving economy creating new jobs for Americans and ultimately increasing tax revenues though sales tax. (Greg - Bloomington, IN) FairTax will make American made products instantly more competitive both domestically and globally. Our current tax structure is not only unfair, but destroying our economy. Republicans should be able to work with Democrats to pass the FairTax because it is also more progressive than the current system when the prebate is included. Speaker Hastert was on the record as being in favor of the FairTax because of the economic growth it would create. (Laura - Columbia, MD) No “Fair Tax”! The “Fair” tax is anything but fair. It is a continuation of the war on savers. We have already been taxed on the money in our savings. If the “fair” tax is passed, we'd be taxed again at 27% for the privilege of spending our own money. A Flat Tax would be better, but it would be best to do away with the income tax and replace it with nothing. The government should be restrained to its Constitutional limits and spend within its mean. (Michael - Santa Fe, TX) Wealth and investment are mobile... they have gone global. They flow to those countries that provide hospitable investment environments. If you want to help workers, whether they be white collar or blue collar... don't drive away the capital that employs and pays them. Ideally, the federal government would abolish the corporate tax (income and capital gains) and the capital gains tax. Until we can do that, we should aim to permanently index capital gains to inflation and move the corporate tax from a global to a territorial system. As well, the statutory marginal corporate tax rate should be no higher than 15%, with all deductions, loopholes, and so forth removed. (Mark - Houston, TX) The Republican Party supports every effort to maintain American leadership in the exploration and economic development of the high frontier of space. The Vision for Space Exploration should be adequately funded and pursued with the utmost vigor to return human explorers to the Moon at the earliest date possible, followed by Mars and other destinations. The Vision for Space Exploration should lead to the permanent settlement of the Moon, Mars, and other destinations in the Solar System in order to enhance the national security and economic vitality of the United States. Tax and regulatory incentives should be used to encourage commercial space enterprises, including space transportation, in order to enhance American presence in space. (Joe - Silver Spring, MD) Human expansion into space is convergent with our core interests of national security, economic prosperity and a culture of life, in that the resources of space can provide for future generations. (No need for 'population control'.) NASA must continue to be supported for carrying out cutting edge exploration of the Moon, asteroids, Mars & beyond. But national space policy must be implemented in a way that enables the commercial sector to expand into the frontier in a big way. Only then will humans truly be able to develop and settle places beyond Earth while providing benefits to the nation and the world. We must follow up on the 2007 National Security Space Office study on the use of solar energy collected in space and transmitted for use on Earth to help meet our future energy needs. (Chadwick - Oconomowoc, WI) America can't afford to be afraid of trade with other countries, but our trade policies need to be handled in a responsible fashion. We cannot simply open up to complete free trade with countries without hurting a great many working Americans. When we engage in Free Trade, it perhaps be phased in over a few years, slowing the rate of shift in employment, and giving everyone time to be retrained to find new jobs. This may not be the right answer, but something needs to be done differently, as unbuffered Free Trade hurts a great many middle-class people in our country, and possibly in our trading partners. (Douglas - Pleasant Hill, CA) I give a strong yes on Free Trade Agreements. I support 'Fair' Trade, but not how Liberals define it. We should not support trade for goods where workers are not paid a decent wage (for their country) or are not treated fairly. We also should not support trade for goods where environmental laws are skirted. I am currently (and have worked) in a foreign country. We pay our workers much better than the industry average AND we comply with all laws of the country (or equivalent US law) whichever is more stringent. AND WE STILL MAKE MONEY. Free trade helps keep US Unionism in check (I am not against US unions, I just am not interested in giving them the upper hand they enjoyed in the 60's) as well as reduces significantly the pressure to illegally immigrant into the US. (Reinaldo - St Paul, MN) The nation's immigration laws must be enforced. But the primary target of enforcement must be the employers. For years, American business has taken advantage of unrestrained illegal immigration as a means to keep wages low. When business interests rally to the defense of illegal immigrants, it's really just a cynical ploy to keep their costs down. Illegal immigration has pushed down wages in slaughterhouses, in the construction trades and agriculture. Business interests LIE when they say they can't find Americans to do these jobs. They just can't find Americans who will do these jobs at the third-world wages being offered. STOP American business from importing a third-world labor force! (David - Seattle, WA) The proven recipe for economic growth: low trade barriers, low taxes, and stable money. Congress should encourage free trade with all nations. Protectionist policies should be discarded. Taxes should be simple, low, and broadly applied. The tax “industry” is totally unproductive. Congress should render this industry unnecessary. Periods of strong economic growth (not bubbles) are always accompanied by stable money. Congress should commit to stable money by regulating the dollar's value with gold. Once the dollar is as stable as gold, our currency's global popularity will surge. This would be like a shot of economic adrenalin. (Thomas - Alexander, IA) We support the development of a simple tax system. First, since corporations do no pay taxes and only individuals do we would eliminate all corporate taxes. Second, we would eliminate all other taxes. Finally, we would develop a simple tax system which is either an consumption tax (eliminating the income tax and reversing the constitutional amendment creating the same) or a flat income tax. Whichever system we implement the tax rate should never rise above 19.5%.